Kodaline ready to conquer U.S.

BMS catches up with guitarist Mark Prendergast ahead of Boston show

They call Boston the “Hub of Irish America” and for any band from the Emerald Isle looking to conquer the United States, it starts here. For Dublin’s Kodaline, the rising rockers look to be following the blueprint with a highly anticipated show at the Paradise Rock Club on Friday already sold out.

The show in Boston, their fourth and first at the legendary club on Comm. Ave, continues the band’s stateside promotion of In A Perfect World. Released last summer, Kodaline’s debut album topped the charts in their native homeland and has been making inroads on this side of pond courtesy of hit single “All I Want”.

Earlier this week, we caught up with guitarist Mark Prendergast to discuss the state of the band, their current tour and thoughts on playing Boston.

Boston Music Spotlight (BMS): How is the tour going thus far?

Mark Prendergast of Kodalaine (MP): The tour is going really well, we started out in Canada and that was crazy, the crowds up there are a lot of fun. It’s very cold though, we’re not used to this weather but it’s all good.

BMS: Give us a quick history on the band. Your debut album as Kodaline was released last year but you’ve actually been together much longer.

MP: Yeah, myself and Steve [Garrigan] (lead singer) have been friends since we’ve been kids and we’ve been playing music since we were teenagers. Vinny [May] the drummer lived two minutes away and he had a drum kit so it made sense. We only met Jason [Boland] (bass) about two years Ago and he fit straight away.

BMS: Whats been the most challenging part of touring the US? What have you enjoyed the most?

MP: New York City last night was incredible, it’s one of my favourite cities in the world and we played in Webster hall. A beautiful venue. The only challenging part of this tour has been the weather.

BMS: I heard you spent last month working on new material. How did it go and what can you tell us about it?

MP: We had some time off at Christmas but we ended up going into the studio and putting our heads together. We never stop writing so it was nice to have a bit of time to record some new ideas. We’re very excited with the new stuff.

BMS: Do you see this new material taking the band in any new direction?

MP: We don’t try and take the music in any direction; we just write and see what happens. We let the song take us where it needs to go. The second album will definitely be different to the first but it’ll still sound like Kodaline.

BMS: Walk us through your songwriting process.

MP: It can start in any way. Usually it’s starts either on a piano or an acoustic guitar and we build it up from there. We’ve been jamming out a lot of ideas during soundchecks before our shows too, that’s a lot if fun.

BMS: On Friday, you’ll return to Boston for a show at the Paradise Rock Club. What are your thoughts on playing Boston?

MP: We love playing in Boston. This is going to be our fourth show in Boston and we’ve heard great things about the Paradise Rock Club. The last time we played there, we were at The Sinclair and that was an amazing night. One of our first shows in Boston was at the House of Blues opening for Airbourne Toxic Event, that’s also a beautiful venue.

BMS: Of course, Boston is called the “Hub of Irish America” and is a very important place for Irish bands looking to conquer America. From U2 to Snow Patrol and The Script, they all have great success here first. Have you talked with any fellow Irish bands on Boston or the US?

MP: We’ve been told that Boston will be one of our strongest markets in the U.S, and it has been so far. We always end up in an Irish bar after a show with a ton of Irish people. It’s probably going to happen again on this trip.

BMS: What can fans expect at Friday’s show?

MP: We’re going to be playing our debut album In A Perfect World in full, plus a few surprises.

BMS: Anything else you’d like to share with our readers?

MP: Thanks anyone that’s help us us get this far this early on in our career, we really appreciate it.